Feral Bachelorism (7 page)

Nothing at all that would be of any use in this circumstance. He didn’t carry a cell phone because he’d never believed in the pesky contraptions, thinking they only served to sever real communication between two people. Now, he’d have given anything to be able to call for help.

His heart tore into a million pieces as he gazed at his lover. Brad’s cock was still semi-hard, slicked with cum. Moonlight glistened off his broad chest.

Sean leaned down and brushed his lips over Brad’s, his hands caressing his body, knowing it could well be the last time he’d ever get to touch him. Sadness welled up inside his chest, clogging his throat, threatening to choke him. He’d wanted so much to see whether there was something between them, to get past the uncertainty and insecurity he felt about giving himself to another man.

His palms grazed Brad’s ribcage, his waist, his hips. The lean muscles lay still beneath his caress, corded and taut. When his fingers encountered the syringe, Sean didn’t hesitate. He pulled it out and tossed it as far away as he could throw.

Brad’s deep, shuddering breath was the most beautiful sound Sean had ever heard. He cupped Brad’s face in his hands and watched as the man blinked his eyes open, the brilliant blue orbs clouded with pain and confusion.

“You’re okay. Thank God you’re okay.”

This time when he kissed him, he didn’t hold back. He thrust his tongue between Brad’s lips, tasting, seeking, exploring, drowning in the flavor of the man. Though clearly weary, Brad responded in kind, his tongue sweeping against Sean’s, then pushing past it, into Sean’s mouth.

Even now, despite everything that had happened, Brad’s need to take control won out. Sean didn’t care. It was enough to know he had Brad back, that he’d be all right. The rest they could figure out together.

Brad broke the kiss abruptly and sat up. He shut his eyes and clutched his head in his hands. “Where is she?”

A pang of grief settled deep in Sean’s stomach. “You’re hurt. We need to get you --”

“Which way did she go?” Brad pushed away from Sean and stood up, teetering unsteadily on his feet. He leaned against a thick tree trunk and breathed deeply, his eyes searching the parameter of the clearing as though he’d spot Ali if he looked long enough.

Sean knew she was long gone. The only trace of her remained in the tall boots that lay on the ground, their supple leather crumpled against the dark forest floor.

“Which way?” Brad repeated, his voice shaking with rage. “I have to find her.”

Swallowing hard, Sean tried to calm his hammering heart. When Brad should have been concerned only with recovering his strength, he still expended energy on the woman he loved. Sean gritted his teeth, his gut clenching with envy. “No. We have to get you to a hospital.”

Brad snarled, his lips folding back from his teeth. His elongated, sharp, teeth.

In an instant, his visage changed. His facial features lengthened, shifted, transforming as Sean watched. He didn’t dare breathe. He could only stare in fascination and awe as his lover’s body sprouted fur.

Brad’s limbs elongated. His shoulders broadened. Dark claws appeared from the pads of his toes and fingers, and his spine hunched until Brad stood on all fours. Where only a moment ago a man had been, a dark brown wolf materialized in his place.

“Holy Mother of God,” Sean murmured. He’d lost sight of Ali when she’d run, but now his brain made sense of what he’d seen. She’d turned into a wolf. That’s why she disappeared so quickly, and that had been the flash of white he’d seen.

The wolf --
Brad
-- stared at him for a long moment. He recognized the intensity in its eyes, the clever intelligence hidden behind those deep sapphire orbs. A howl broke free from the wolf’s throat, long and mournful. It tossed its head back, and Sean willed his legs to move. He took a step forward, then another, and when he reached Brad’s side, he took a chance and reached out to him.

He’d barely brushed the silken fur before Brad’s jaws snapped and he snarled, the gesture more of a warning than a threat. Sean didn’t pull back.

Coiling his muscles, Brad leapt in the air and disappeared into the forest.

For a minute, Sean could only stand there, staring at the spot where Brad had vanished into the woods, his heart threatening to pound out of his chest.

What had just happened? Had he really seen Brad turn into a wolf, or had his imagination run away with him?

Sean’s legs trembled and he reached out to steady himself. God, but Brad was beautiful. He’d been stunning in human form, long and lean and muscular, but as a wolf, his confident, arrogant bearing showed through in the tilt of his head, the powerful legs, the long tail.

It took Sean’s breath away. He’d known from the moment he’d seen him that there was something gloriously majestic about Brad, but never in a million years could he have imagined that this was the secret the man was hiding. The truth was too strange to contemplate, too eerie for a guy who’d worked in an office his entire life and had no experience with predators that didn’t involve dealing with his boss.

Sean grabbed his clothes and dressed quickly, determination taking shape within him. He knew what he had to do. He’d seen the look in Brad’s eyes when he awoke, the deep, searing hurt that had lingered there. After he found Ali, he’d need to come to terms with what had happened, and it wouldn’t be easy.

He’d let his guard down and he’d allowed Ali to take advantage of him when he was most vulnerable. Brad was stubborn and proud, likely to blame himself for what happened.

Stay with me. Stay forever
.

The words from his dream rang in his mind. Brad needed him. There was no way Sean would let him deal with his pain alone.

Pulling his T-shirt over his head, Sean strode through the dense foliage. Darkness shrouded the trees and the forest floor, and he had to move slowly so he wouldn’t trip, or worse, twist an ankle. He couldn’t follow the tracks Ali and Brad left, but it didn’t matter.

He’d find Brad. He knew he would.

There was something between them, a connection Sean could no longer deny. It tugged at his soul, pulled him with a deeper strength than lust ever could.

He knew what it felt like to be betrayed by someone he thought he loved. He remembered well the searing ache stabbing straight into his soul. The mere idea that Brad was experiencing the same made him quicken his step. Regardless of Brad’s feelings for him, Sean knew they needed one another. Now more than ever.

He trudged through the grass, branches snapping beneath his feet. The moon fought to slide its beams through the packed leaves overhead, but succeeded only in casting random sparkles of silver light, sprinkling the trees ahead with its velvety sheen.

Distracted by the simple act of placing one foot in front of the other, Sean had no time to prepare himself for the attack. One moment he was carefully walking through the woods, and the next moment an arm had closed around his throat, a massive body pulling him off his feet.

“Who are you?” A low, masculine voice growled in his ear. “If Daniel sent you, I swear you won’t walk out of this forest alive.”

Sean swallowed hard. He opened his mouth to speak, but the man’s arm pressed against his windpipe, cutting off his ability to breathe, much less to answer his question.

“Thankfully, J.C. and Eve are safe. Your boss has failed again.”

Sean struggled in the man’s grasp, but the powerful muscles that held him kept a tight hold on his body. Bright colors dotted the edges of his vision. Pressure built in his chest, clogging his lungs.

At last, when he thought he couldn’t endure another moment, the hold on his throat eased just enough to allow him to breathe.

“Speak,” the man commanded.

“I --” Sean heaved a deep breath, then coughed as a burst of air entered his bruised throat. “I don’t know any Daniel.”

The man’s laugh was harsh and devoid of humor. “Right. So you just happened to be taking a midnight stroll in the vicinity of the mating ritual.”

Sean gritted his teeth. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have no idea what a mating ritual is. Brad… Brad Hennessy and I were… We were…” He took a deep breath, then the words came spilling out. “We were together, but a woman, Ali, she injected him with something. He’s hurt, but he went after her. I have to find him.”

The grip around his throat loosened entirely and Sean spun around, finding himself face-to-face with a tall, broad-shouldered man. A deep scowl lined his otherwise handsome features. “Ali did what?”

“She had a syringe in her boot. By the time I saw her take it out, it was too late. She’d already stabbed it into Brad’s thigh and when he collapsed, she took off.” Brad licked his suddenly dry lips. “Wait, you know her?”

The man growled, a deep, guttural sound that started deep in his chest and ended…

Sean blinked.

The growl ended in a howl. In a flash, even quicker than Brad had shifted, a gray wolf stood before him. He only had a moment to get a glimpse of the powerful creature before it rapidly bounded between the trunks of two thick pine trees and disappeared into the dark shadows of the night.

“Great plan, Sean, wandering alone through the forest,” he murmured to himself as he set out again. He took no comfort from knowing there were other werewolves around. He wasn’t afraid of Brad, and this encounter had ended as well as he could have hoped, but he had no illusions about being so lucky a third time.

Especially if he stumbled upon the mating ritual the man had mentioned. An entire pack of werewolves might not look as kindly upon a human intruding on their private ceremony. And this time, they probably wouldn’t let him tell his story before going for the jugular.

Sean gulped and ran his hand absently over his tender neck. He thought about turning around and trying to find his way back on his own, but the memory of Brad’s sullen, sad eyes made him press on.

Chapter Six

Brad didn’t know how much time had passed since he’d bolted through the woods after Ali. An hour? Two? It didn’t matter. He’d searched aimlessly in vain for what seemed like forever, running through the trees like a creature possessed, all to no avail. Ali was long gone.

He should have known better than to think he’d be able to find her. No one could ever find Ali while they played hide-and-seek when they were young, and no one had been able to detect her trail when she’d abandoned her pack all those years ago.

Brad’s claws arched in and out of his forepaws as he walked, head hung low, sniffing the ground for the slightest scent that would lead him to her. His muscles burned with exhaustion.

The sun hadn’t yet made its way across the horizon, but the moon had begun its descent, and the pale silvery beams that had been his constant companions since he’d begun his pursuit had drifted away into nothingness. Dark, gloomy shadows slithered on the ground, taunting him, whispering bleak words that spoke of betrayal and cunning deceit. But most of all, they mocked him with memories of his own weakness, his inability to face reality head-on.

Memories best left forgotten slid across his mind. The more he tried to close his eyes against them, the faster they came.

If the images had been of his time with Ali, that would have made sense to Brad. In some odd, forlorn way, he knew he needed closure. Dealing with the past would be painful, but necessary. Ali had never loved him. That was painfully clear now. He’d sheltered his feelings for her for almost a decade, believing that what they’d had was genuine. Now he knew better.

It was much too late, but he knew better.

No, the memories weren’t of J.C.’s half-sister, or even of J.C. himself. Despite the fact that the mating ritual had weighed so heavily on Brad’s mind, and despite the fact that Ali had chosen this night of all nights to take his future away from him, neither one of those thoughts gripped his heart like the knowledge that he’d turned his back on Sean to chase after Ali.

He sighed deeply and buried his muzzle in a pile of leaves. There! He’d found it -- the unmistakable scent of Ali’s desire, sweet and slightly musky. She’d been here not long ago.

Yet beneath the familiar smell lay the aroma of spicy after-shave. A second unique scent he would have recognized anywhere caressed his nostrils, teasing, tempting, alluring.

Brad’s head shot up, and he halted in mid-stride. Sean had been here. More importantly, he was still close, having only recently walked this path. Brad’s heartbeat quickened. He followed the trail laid out before him, his acute senses discerning the overlapping scents until the two redolent fragrances parted. There, he paused, sniffing the air. Ali had gone to the left, through a hollowed out stump and deeper into the recesses of the forest.

Sean had gone right, toward Hard Delights.

Brad peeled his lips back over his fangs. A low growl escaped his throat. He should go after Ali. Every bone in his body told him he had to have answers and get revenge for what she’d done to him. Not just for tonight, but for all those years he’d believed she cared about him.

Yet another part, the part that yearned for comfort, safety and love, all those things he never thought he’d have, tugged him toward the right. He closed his eyes, his nostrils flaring.

“Hard decision, isn’t it?”

Sean’s soft, masculine voice startled Brad. He blinked his eyes open and hunched his shoulders. He bared his fangs in a ferocious snarl and took a step back, putting a good two feet of distance between them. Sean’s scent was intoxicating. It slid deep into Brad’s soul every time he inhaled, like a permanent mark that imprinted itself on him with each ragged breath.

“She was here, wasn’t she?” Sean continued, moving toward him. “I don’t know how I know, but I do. Perhaps in the same way I knew you’d be here. Maybe we’re all connected somehow.” He shrugged, as though the thought wasn’t as absurd as it should have been. “You’d know better than I do, though. You can probably smell her, can’t you? Once you picked up her trail, you could have chased her to the end of the world. But you didn’t.”

The sweet, sensual smile on his handsome features never wavered. There was so much acceptance in that smile, so much heartbreaking love, Brad couldn’t handle it.

He tossed his head back and began to shift, his corded muscles methodically adjusting to his human form. Sean never averted his gaze. He watched the transformation boldly, looking neither flustered nor terrified. His grin broadened, and his blue eyes sparkled with an intensity that frightened Brad.

“You followed me,” Brad said between gritted teeth when his human mouth could handle speech. “Why?”

“Because I knew that if you really wanted to, you could find her, and you’d need me when you did.”

Brad teetered on the edge of fury. In one night, everything had changed. His bachelor days had been ripped from him, and his entire life had been turned upside down the moment he’d handed Sean that note. Unknowingly, Ali had only sealed his fate.

Worse yet, the sullen ache in his heart told him that was exactly what he’d wanted all along. Not Ali’s betrayal, of course, but someone who would love him, care for him the way Eve worshiped J.C.

But Brad wasn’t the commitment type. His plan had involved nothing more significant than hopping from bed to bed, from man to man, until J.C. Hill was entirely out of his system.

Yet now the thought of J.C. no longer made him grit his teeth until his jaw ached, and it had only taken one man to achieve that level of acceptance.

Brad glanced at the hollowed log Ali had disappeared through, then back at Sean’s face. His heart raged, fighting a fierce internal war with itself. Sean needed someone who knew what it meant to give himself over to a mate wholeheartedly. He deserved someone better.

“Leave it alone,” Brad said, his voice breaking into a growl. “Go home. Forget what you saw here tonight and let it go. Let
me
go.”

Sean closed the distance between them. This time, Brad didn’t step back. “I’m afraid it’s too late for that.”

Brad’s laugh was filled with the bitter tang of defeat. Just like he knew he’d never be able to catch Ali if she intended to get away before anyone learned what she’d done, he also knew he wouldn’t be able to deny Sean anything he asked.

He let his shoulders fall and tilted his head to look deep into Sean’s eyes. “Why?”

Sean hesitated for a moment, and Brad held his breath. He didn’t know what he expected to hear. Perhaps Sean would finally come to his senses and realize they were all wrong for each other.

“Because I love you,” Sean said at last. His mouth hovered so close, his breath warmed Brad’s lips when he spoke. “I know it all happened so fast. And believe me, no one’s more surprised than I am. A week ago, I was adamant about convincing my friends that I had no interest in being with a man. And now I’m not just eager to spend the rest of my life with one, I’m convinced I belong with a werewolf.” His throaty chuckle grazed Brad’s skin, making him shiver.

Brad swept his tongue over Sean’s lower lip. His lover rewarded him with a soft shudder and a low moan. “So what happened to change your mind?”

“Exceptional circumstances,” Sean said. His smile widened. “
You
happened. No one told me what would happen when I met you.”

Moving with care, Brad slipped his hand beneath the waistband of Sean’s jeans. He grabbed the man’s cock, which was hard and thick and hot, impossibly ready for him. “You don’t want me,” he said softly.

“Because of your relationship with Ali?”

He shook his head. “Because I’m no good for you. Because come daylight, every member of my pack will know what has happened to me. I’ll be an outcast. And even if they don’t cast me out, they’ll treat me like I have the plague. Which, I suppose I do.”

“The injection,” Sean whispered. “You know what was in it.”

Brad nodded, feeling his throat tighten. “Ali’s plan was flawless. She targeted the pack’s most notorious bachelor. She knew I’d spread the virus from wolf to wolf. I’m as good as lethal to my people now.” He took a deep breath, remembering what Eve had told them about Daniel’s plan to sterilize the entire pack. “No one will want to come near me. My seed is tainted. I won’t be able to sire pups or continue the line of my pack.”

“Flawless? I don’t believe that for a second. If it had been, she’d have accounted for me.” Sean slid his hand around the back of Brad’s neck and pulled his mouth down to his. The kiss was gentle, warm, and so tender it tore at Brad’s heart, shattering him with every swipe of Sean’s tongue.

Brad wrapped his hand around Sean’s cock and stroked it lightly. The skin was velvety soft over the rigid hardness beneath. A drop of moisture leaked from the tip. Sean was right, Brad realized when the kiss went from tender to excitingly savage in the span of a heartbeat. Just like Daniel’s plan had failed because he didn’t account for Eve and her love for J.C., Ali hadn’t taken into consideration what would happen if Brad found his mate, if he never shared himself with another again.

“Does it have any effect on humans?” Sean asked when they broke apart. “Will it harm me?”

Brad swallowed hard. Hot tears clogged his throat, thick and unfamiliar. The depth of his emotion scared him half to death. Over the years, he’d become an expert at hiding his true feelings behind an arrogant swagger and a witty quip. Now he was completely out of his element.

Leaning his forehead against Sean’s, he closed his eyes. “Even when I was young, my dreams were not like those of other wolves in my pack. I never wanted a litter of pups, but I did want to be useful to the pack, to find my place among them. I never quite belonged.” In Ali’s arms, and later, in J.C.’s, he’d thought he’d found the answers he sought, the acceptance he craved.

He now knew that was just an illusion. Nowhere else had he felt as wanted as he did right here, in the warm embrace of a human.

“You’re worried about me,” Sean said. It wasn’t a question.

Brad took a deep breath. “The honest answer to your question is that I don’t know how, or even if, Daniel’s serum will affect you. It may. For all I know, the moment we make love, you’ll be infected too.”

“I’d be sterile.”

Brad grimaced. The word sounded so harsh, so final. “Perhaps.” He tore himself out of Sean’s grasp, but couldn’t bring his hand to release the man’s throbbing dick. “I told you I’m not right for you. You don’t want me.”

Sean’s hips pumped forward, his cock driving eagerly through the circle Brad formed with his fingers. “That’s what you think.”

A laugh broke free from Brad’s chest. The pure acceptance in Sean’s eyes made him dizzy. Never before had he known such love existed, and to find it with someone after only a week seemed impossible.

The first pink rays of the sun flittered through the foliage, illuminating Sean’s face. “I know someone who may be able to find a cure. Eve… she’s a doctor.”

“Eve. I heard her name before. The mating ritual, right?”

Brad quirked an eyebrow. At his unspoken question, Sean shrugged. “I ran into someone else while I was searching for you.” He rubbed a hand across his throat and for the first time Brad noticed the purple tint of a bruise. “Friendly fella.”

Brad gritted his teeth. “If I ever find out who did that to you --”

Sean waved a hand in the air. “It’s not important. Tell me about Eve. Why do you think she’d be able to cure us?”

Us.

There it was. Not
you
.
Us
.

Brad swallowed past the lump in his throat. “She specializes in this stuff. Genetics and mutated cells, I think. I don’t quite understand it myself, but until a short time ago, she worked for the man who invented the serum.”

Sean nodded briskly, his brilliant blue gaze never leaving Brad’s. “We’ll talk to her. But if she can’t help us, we’ll deal with this on our own.” His mouth trailed a path down Brad’s jaw. “To be honest, I’ve never wanted a litter of pups, either.”

Brad’s chuckle resonated through the trees. His voice echoed back at him, and the genuine happiness reflected in the sound warmed his heart. He leaned down and captured his mate’s mouth. As their tongues entwined and their bodies reached out for the exquisite pleasure only found with each other, Brad understood exactly what J.C. felt for Eve.

And he forgave him.